To be Strong
by lackey H
Summary: Hinata has always been the weak one, the one who never wanted to fight. Perhaps she just needs to grow stronger? (( Now, with added rant at the end of chap. 5 due to too much received (and insulting) flaming -.- ))
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer - Yet again, only one disclaimer for this entire series of fics. *nods* it keeps things cleaner that way.  
  
I don't own Naruto, nor Hinata (though I wish I did), nor do I own any of the other Naruto cast. They all belong to their respective copyright holders.  
  
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To Be Strong.  
  
A Naruto fanfiction  
  
Chapter 1 - Thought.  
  
"Naruto-kun..." There was a picture of the boy in her hand, a small one that had been taken when Naruto had been younger. It was old now, almost two years out of date, but it was still the only one she had of the blonde- haired boy. This picture was, perhaps, her most treasured possession - not that she had many personal possessions, she just wasn't the sort to splash out on herself like that. She had maybe two weeks worth of clothes - and that was about it really. Carefully placing the picture on the small table next to her bed, Hyuuga Hinata left to train.  
  
She'd been training for a while now, ever since Naruto had beaten Neji in the chuunin exam. She knew, in her heart, that Naruto would win but she had never expected him to do it, not for himself, but for her! Naruto had wiped the arena floor with Neji simply because he was angry at the way he had beaten Hinata badly in one of the preliminary matches!  
  
Perhaps Hinata was bending the truth a little to her tastes, but really the girl needed the confidence boost the thought of having someone who actually cared enough to defend her honour gave her. Either way, the incident had inspired her to train, and train hard, she figured that she was at least a match for Kiba now - something she wasn't before. Soon she'd show Naruto how much she'd improved, and he'd turn around and smile and yell in excitement and maybe, just maybe, she'd be confident enough to ask him on a date.  
  
Maybe.  
  
Possibly.  
  
If she was feeling really, really confident.  
  
Hopefully.  
  
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The wood cracked slightly as she hit it, pushing her chakra out through her palm as she struck the training post with an open handed blow. Whilst the attack was rather weak physically, she knew it would be many times more effective if it had been used on a living target, as her blow would have disrupted the spiritual and physical energy - or chakra - within her opponent. The sudden surge of energy would then backlash into her opponents vital systems - effectively injuring them from the inside rather than the outside.  
  
It was an effective, if somewhat disturbing, combat style. One that no one, not even a Jounin nor even the famed copy-ninja Kakashi, could copy. Not unless they had the Byakugan at least, for it was only with the Byakugan that one could see the exact points that had to be hit in order to force chakra into the opponents system - on the other hand, one could use it to see where to hit in order to block the opponents system and prevent them from using their own chakra.  
  
Hinata wished she didn't have this ability.  
  
She wished she wasn't part of the Hyuuga family.  
  
Hell, sometimes she wished that she wasn't a ninja.  
  
Still, there was nothing she could do about those three things so really she was quite stuck as to what she should do. Sitting down on the grass, the raven haired and white-eyed girl leant back against the training post and stared up into the sky. Her hand hurt, she'd been pouring more chakra out of it this training session than she usually did in a week. Sighing to herself she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pot of ointment.  
  
She'd been bringing the ointment with her since the first of these secret training sessions - when she'd first discovered how much it hurt to channel more chakra in a few minutes than she usually used in a week. Of course, it hurt less now because she her body was adapting; she'd used her Byakugan to check the - normally invisible - pathways through which her chakra flowed. To her great excitement, her pathways had increased in size - showing that they were adapting themselves to carry more chakra at any one time, and the bigger her pathways the more she could channel without it hurting.  
  
Carefully pulling the lid off of her pot of ointment Hinata gently sniffed at the cream-like medicine. This particular ointment had been dyed a dull blue in colour, signifying that it had been made for Chakra burn - such as what she was currently feeling. Its odour was like a somewhat nauseating mix of crushed grass and rotting meat - an unfortunate little problem with the herbs she'd used to make it.  
  
Yes, she thought, this was one of her pots wasn't it? One that she'd made, rather than the Hyuuga family medical-ninja. She remembered when she'd learnt to make it, and the day she'd presented some to her father as a birthday gift.  
  
He'd been unhappy about that, not that she'd given him the ointment, but that she'd made it herself. Medicine making was a commoners task, he'd said, not something that a member of the elite Hyuuga clan should do.  
  
Still, Hinata had found the task of making simple medicines strangely satisfying. This was, quite possibly, the only time she'd openly defied her fathers orders. Then again, shortly afterwards he'd denied all recognition of her and instead pinned his hopes on his newest child so the point was effectively moot.  
  
She'd been so upset at her father's actions that she'd retreated into her room and didn't come out for almost a week. When she did eventually come out she was pale, malnourished and exhausted. She'd also left behind an impressive stock of various ointments she'd made in her own way of rebelling.  
  
Since then, she'd been secretly learning more and more about medicine - mostly the simple things like herbal remedies and basic wound-binding techniques, things that - as a ninja - she had found particularly useful for fixing up the smaller scrapes her team earned during missions.  
  
That... and she'd learnt how to make, and then made some rather special ointment for Naruto.  
  
Naruto.  
  
Hinata blushed as she remembered Naruto's praise for her ointment, he hadn't known she had been the maker but she felt he was still complimenting her - albeit in a roundabout way.  
  
She thought about how he'd cheered her on in her fight against Neji, and given her the courage to stand up and defend her ninja way. She had still lost though. But she had fought, with his eyes on her, and she knew he didn't care if she had won or lost, she knew he just cared about her trying her best. Now, though, she was trying harder, training herself to reach some unknown goal.  
  
Why? Why was she training like this?  
  
Was it for him? To impress him? He already acknowledged her, so that wasn't it.  
  
Was it for her? To build up her courage so she could ask him... ask him... ask him out? On a date? With real, date-like activities? And possibly even a kiss at the end?  
  
As Hinata slowly dived down into the happy pink mist that were her fantasies, a squeal of pain pulled her back out like a cork being shot out of a bottle.  
  
"Wh-who's there?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly as she pulled herself to her feet, glancing around the clearing with pale eyes that took in every detail of her surroundings. "Sh-show y-yourself," she demanded, hoping her voice sounded stronger than it really was.  
  
Hinata's only answer was a whimper of pain that came from somewhere off to her right, behind - or even in - a thick area of brushwood. A faint rustling indicated that whatever was in there was large - though not quite as large as herself. A small child perhaps? Or a wild animal maybe?  
  
Whatever it was, the pathetic whimpering of the being tugged at something within Hinata, the part of her that didn't wish to see anything hurt urged her onwards. Approaching the brush, Hinata moved silently her Genin training paying off once again as she barely made a sound - even as she stepped through the somewhat dry grass that covered the ground.  
  
Gently leaning over the leading edge of the thorny bushes that made up the undergrowth, Hinata reached forward and - being careful not to catch herself on any thorns - pulled a few of the branches apart to peek through. What she saw on the other side, however, made her gasp in surprise.  
  
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Author's notes - Well, due to the success of my other ficcie's first chapter I decided to put this up. ^.^ This is another multi chapter story, mostly based around Hinata (at present).  
  
The chapters will be smaller, around 1,500 - 2,000 words or so. This is so that I can work on this during those periods where writers block stops me from my major fic 'Betrothal', but please, please, please don't think I've abandoned that ^^;; because I haven't. And, in fact, the next chapter of that should be up soon =P  
  
^.^ This fic is COMPLETELY separate from 'Betrothal' and bares absolutely NO reference to that fic x.x. At present, pairings (if there will be any) are unknown, though I suspect that Naruto x Hinata will be the most likely ^.^  
  
- Lackey H, minion to fandom x.x 


	2. Healing

To Be Strong.  
  
A Naruto fanfiction  
  
Chapter 2 - Healing.  
  
Hinata gasped in shock as her gaze fell upon the horrible sight on the other side of the bush. It was a mole, a large one. A very large mole in fact - easily the size of a seven year old child.  
  
It's rather shiny fur was a dark and dirty brown colour that was covered in patches of black fur which made a strangely beautiful pattern upon the mole's body. A pattern which, horrifyingly, was marred by a terrible rip along the side of the mole's body. The rip was oozing blood at a rapid rate, causing the fur to matt due to the sticky red liquid that covered it. Nearby a rather nasty looking piece of scrap metal lay on the floor, a blood covered jagged edge pointing upwards. Obviously this had been what had injured the mole and left such a horrible wound behind.  
  
"Oh..." Hinata breathed, "You poor, poor thing..." the mole squealed in pain, an odd sound to hear from a mole but then Hinata had seen quite a few odd animals before so it didn't particularly worry her. The fact that it was hurt, alive and obviously in pain did. Reaching out she gently touched the creatures wound, and was rewarded with a violent squeal as her mere touch cause the wound to hurt the creature more.  
  
"I... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to hurt you..." Hinata whispered, "B-but I have to make sure th-that there's n-nothing in the wound..." She reached out again, but the giant mole squealed and attempted to shy away from her hand - an action which only made the injury worse. Sighing to herself, Hinata thought about what she could do, nothing she could think of would work without having to actually touch the mole except... except...  
  
Hinata hated her eyes but, like all Hyuuga family members, knew the ins and outs of them like the back of her hand. She knew that, with concentration, she could alter the vision of her eyes to pass though things - such as flesh. Hinata hated her eyes, but even she had to admit that they could come in useful sometimes. Her hands flipped through the simple gestures that unlocked the power of her eyes...  
  
"Byakugan!" Her eyes flashed as she pushed her chakra through them, altering them slightly to - instead of seeing only the 'inner coils system' of chakra pathways within things - see metals and other dense objects but not living flesh. On her forehead her chakra pathways stood out as visible ridges that branched off away from her eyes. Almost instantly the colours of the world faded away, replaced with blacks and greys and a dull glow. It was impossible for her to describe the colour, it wasn't blue, nor red, nor green or yellow. It was all colours and none at the same time. It was chakra, and that was perhaps the only way to explain it.  
  
Wincing slightly at the needles of pain that lanced into her forehead, Hinata looked down at the mole - seeing not a mole but a collection of mole bones surrounded by the chakra glow. Fortunately, that was all she saw. She had been half afraid that within that glow and collection of bones that she would see the dull - almost black - shade that would have been a chunk of metal trapped within the mole's wound.  
  
Now, that was odd. The mole had completely stopped making any noise - apart from it's slightly laboured breathing at least. Hinata, worried, dropped out of the Byakugan state, her eyes loosing their shine and reverting to a pale matte look, along with this the ridges on her forehead and around her eyes faded slightly. It would take a little longer for them to fade completely, but they would fade in a short while. Right now, however, the mole was more important.  
  
Looking at it now, she could see that the creature was staring at her. If she didn't know better she could have sworn it was in awe. No, that was just plain silly, it was just an animal - it couldn't feel awe, much less for someone like her.  
  
Either way, now that she knew there was nothing stuck in the wound she had at least some idea of what to do. Unfortunately, there wasn't a nearby water supply - so she couldn't wash it out as she would normally do, but she could do the next best thing.  
  
"Uhmmm... Thi-this is going to sting..." She warned, then felt rather foolish as trying to warn a wild animal. It wasn't' as if it could understand her, now was it? Reaching into a pocket she produced a fairly large container full of ointment, this one a light green colour. This particular ointment was the one she made the most of, it was a form of antiseptic that Kiba found to be absolutely wonderful in keeping wounds from getting infected.  
  
Then again... This was probably because it was one of the few such things like that which he wasn't allergic to. Yes, Inuzuka Kiba had allergies, fairly serious ones, to most antiseptic medicines.  
  
This time, as Hinata reached out, the mole didn't even blink. It did whimper slightly, as the thick oily medicine touched it's wound - burning away possible infection and leaving the terrible injury rather clean. Well, as clean as it could get under such conditions at least. That done, the shy girl reached once more into her jacket pockets and produced a roll of thing bandages, ones that she had treated by soaking in the same mixture that was eventually used to make her green ointment. After all, she may have respected the skills of the people who made most medical supplies for the rookie teams, but it didn't mean she had to trust them...  
  
"Uhmmm..." Well, this would be a problem. The mole looked rather heavy, and she'd have to wrap the bandage around it's body several times to be effective. To be completely honest, she wasn't too sure that she was capable of holding it up and wrapping bandages at the same time.  
  
The mole, however, solved this problem for her by pulling itself half onto a rock, leaving a gap between it's belly and the ground. Obviously it was smarter than it looked, a fact which disturbed Hinata somewhat. Still, it was injured and she couldn't just leave it... So, disturbing or not she had to bandage it up.  
  
Her hands moved quickly and carefully, threading the bandage under the mole, then reaching over to pick it up and loop it over the creatures back. She repeated the motion many, many times until the bandage was almost finished, then tied it off with a careful little knot. Smiling, she looked at her handiwork, it was a good dressing, she thought, one that any healer would be moderately pleased with.  
  
Standing up she took her eyes off the mole for the briefest moment, and was promptly knocked flat as the animal made it's escape - digging into the soft earth under her feet and causing her to trip. She whimpered as her head banged against the ground, it wasn't serious but it did hurt quite a lot. Closing her eyes for a moment she bit her lip.  
  
"I... I did all that a-and I still... still get no thanks..." Not that she had expected thanks from an animal, but it would have at least been nice not to trip her over after all that. Raising her head her gaze moved along the ground and past a scroll.  
  
Wait.  
  
Past a scroll?  
  
Hinata blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't imagining things. Nope, the scroll was still there, it must be real. Pulling herself to her knees, the shy girl with a talent for healing reached out and picked up the scroll in both hands. It was, as scrolls went, quite a plain one - but it was large, twice, maybe three times as large as a normal scroll at least. As she picked it up a single scrap of parchment fluttered down from where it had been gently tacked to the scroll.  
  
Picking up the parchment, Hinata saw that there was one single word on it. A single word that made her feel slightly warm inside.  
  
'Thankyou'  
  
Clutching both the scroll and the note to her chest, Hinata pulled herself to her feet and looked around. Obviously the scroll had been left for her, by whom she didn't know. For a moment she considered the mole, then she dismissed the notion as absurd. Moles were just animals, they couldn't carry scrolls - besides, where would a mole hide a scroll this size anyway?  
  
Eventually, of course, there was only one real course of action. She had to go find someone who could help her understand the scroll. Smiling happily at her plan of action, Hinata set off to find one of the few people she trusted enough to ask such questions.  
  
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"K-Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata's voice echoed slightly in the small room which had been set apart for her team to gather and plan things - such as missions.  
  
"Hinata? Is that you?" Hinata was in luck, her jounin instructor, one Kurenai Yuuhi, was already there. This meant that she didn't have to go looking for her, it was a known fact to team eight that Yuuhi had a tendency to do most of her work in some of the most unexpected places. Such as up in trees, behind one of the nearby waterfalls, or - in one case - underground using an earth-type jutsu designed for hiding. The was all probably because she disliked being interrupted whilst she worked.  
  
"Y-yes, Kurenai-sensei I... I have a question for you..." Hinata stepped up to where her instructor was working on a small desk. With a slight grunt of effort she lifted the scroll up and dropped it down onto the desk, causing the whole thing to shake under the weight. "I... I wanted to ask... if you could help me with this scroll..."  
  
Yuuhi raised an eyebrow and glanced at the scroll. "That," she began, "Is an awfully large scroll. Well, I guess I'd better see what it is if I'm to help you."  
  
Carefully, the jounin removed the ties that held the scroll closed and unrolled it slightly. As she saw what was written upon it her eyes grew wide, "Wh-where did you get this!?" She demanded, glaring at Hinata with a look that would easily see though any lies Hinata may have tried. "Do you even know what this is!?"  
  
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Authors notes -  
  
Nyohohoho... What could it be that's upon the scroll? And what the hell was all that with the mole? All will be revealed when I receive... one... million dollars!  
  
... or when I write the next chapter, whichever comes first ^__^  
  
Now umm x.x Hinata is a hard character to write, since she has such an odd personality. She's terrified and shy of many things, yet she has this strong sense of knowing what she should stand up for. ^__^ I think she's a fun character.  
  
- Lackey H, who thinks Hinata deserves all the hugs she can get! 


	3. Translation

To Be Strong.  
  
A Naruto fanfiction  
  
Chapter 3 - Translation.  
  
"N-no..." Hinata trembled as her instructor yelled, she didn't think she'd done anything bad... Maybe the scroll was something forbidden? She hoped not, she didn't want to have it taken away after having been, as far as she could tell, given it in thanks for helping a creature.  
  
Yuuhi, fortunately, saw that she was frightening Hinata and took a deep, calming, breath. "Hinata, this scroll... This scroll is written in the old script, something that no scroll has been written in since the time of the first Hokage." The jounin instructor looked at Hinata and frowned. "Hinata... I want you to tell me why you, of all people, have a scroll that dates from before the first Hokage - or if it isn't that old, where you found someone who knows enough to write a scroll in this script."  
  
"O-okay..." Hinata gulped once before reciting the events leading up to the scroll appearing before her. Her voice trembled, and many were the times that she had to top and take a few deep breaths before continuing.  
  
It was odd, Yuuhi mused, that this girl who had, apparently, just neatly bound up a rather serious wound on a creature that could have easily seriously injured her was more afraid of being in trouble than she had been afraid of the creature. Just another little oddity in Hinata's personality she guessed.  
  
"So... Are you sure it was from a mole?" She asked once Hinata had finished her tale. Hinata's nod disturbed Yuuhi slightly, the tale seemed odd, especially the mole. To her it sounded much like a summoned creature, but the only ninja she'd ever heard of that had been able to summon moles was dead. Come to think of it, that ninja had been one of the Hyuuga clan also, one of the earlier members - possibly the child of the clans founders.  
  
Now, whilst Yuuhi recognised the old script when she saw it, she hadn't been particularly proficient in translating it. That was, really, more of Asuma's talent than hers.  
  
"K-Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked as Yuuhi thought, "I... I'm not going to... to be in trouble am I?"  
  
"Hm?" Yuuhi smiled reassuringly at the pale-eyed girl. "No, no trouble at all." Not yet at any rate. "I think it would be best if you left the scroll he-"  
  
"No." Hinata was surprised at how strong the tone of her voice was when she cut off her sensei's remark. Likewise, Yuuhi was also surprised at how strong Hinata's voice was. Then again, she was much more surprised at the fact that Hinata had actually said 'no' in the first place.  
  
"No? Why do you say no?" The question was simple, asked more out of surprise than any real irritation at being defied. Hinata looked down at her feet and poked her two index fingers together, a sure sign that she was nervous. Or embarrassed. Or scared. It was quite hard to tell how Hinata was feeling sometimes...  
  
"It... It's my scroll." Hinata whispered, her voice barely audible, "It was given to me... I, I want to know what's on it..."  
  
Normally, if she had to face someone who was acting against her like this, Yuuhi would be annoyed. If it were Kiba doing this, she'd have sent him out on some crazy punishment already. Hinata though... before the chuunin exam Hinata had never shown any backbone, and had always failed her team when it counted in the missions they had done.  
  
Since the exam however, a lot had changed in the timid Hyuuga girl. For one thing she trained a lot more and a lot harder during their team training sessions. Heck, last session she'd actually hit Kiba! Hinata was slowly growing herself some courage, and Yuuhi really didn't have the heart to let this tiny act of courage be crushed for no real reason. Besides, it wasn't as if there were any rules against letting Hinata keep the scroll. In fact...  
  
"Go see Asuma, I mean Sarutobi-sensei, about it, he was a specialist in other languages when he was younger." She blurted out, the girl deserved to have her reward for doing some good. Besides, following up on this would be a mission of her own, a little proving ground as it were.  
  
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Hinata clutched the oversized scroll to her chest as she threaded her way through the afternoon crowds. All around here were people buying and selling, most of the people were ninja, but there were a fair amount of non- ninja around too. Though, the non-ninja were mostly those who operated the stalls and shops that people always seemed to need - like the tailors for instance.  
  
Fortunately Hinata knew where she was headed, a small tea-room that had fitted itself in between two larger buildings some years ago. The place was a common haunt of old men who liked to play Go or Shogi and talk about how things were not as good as they were in the old days.  
  
Of course, it was also the favourite place of entertainment for team ten's Shikamaru, who was often found playing - and beating - the other patrons in pretty much any game they called upon him to play.  
  
The movement of the opening door caused the wind chimes mounted upon the ceiling of the room the sway and play silvery notes as Hinata entered. Glancing around she looked over and past the old men playing Go, past the two youngsters who were obviously trying to replicate the older men's game and past the man behind the counter. Finally she caught sight of Shikamaru and Asuma, sitting facing each other over a shogi board.  
  
Hinata didn't have much knowledge of the game really, but she knew enough to tell that Shikamaru was easily winning the match. Sitting herself beside the board she smiled when both players glanced at her, she nodded towards the game - an indication that she would wait until they were finished.  
  
The game was unfolding at a rapid pace as Shikamaru, quite lazily, surrounded Asuma's force and brought him to a point of surrender. Asuma had, it must be said, pulled off a few moves which had surprised Shikamaru and made him re-think his strategy but, for the most part, it was a horribly one-sided game.  
  
Once the game had been decided, Asuma called up to have some tea brought to where they were seated. Oddly enough he even ordered a cup to Hinata as well.  
  
"Th-thankyou..." Hinata mumbled as she accepted her tea and took a small sip. The taste was quite good, not perfect but still something that excited her sense of taste somewhat.  
  
"Well," Began Asuma, "Why does young Hinata join us? Surely it couldn't be to watch me lose to Shikamaru yet again." He grinned at his own private little joke. In all truth he had been losing to Shikamaru all day so far, and he was glad of the chance to do something other than keep losing.  
  
"Uhm..." Hinata stared at the floor and pushed her scroll forwards, "Ku- Kurenai-sensei said... she said you could translate this..." Shikamaru raised a questioning eyebrow at Hinata's reason. The scroll seemed very large, and he knew that normal jutsu techniques and information were rarely held on big scrolls such as this one. In fact, the bigger scrolls tended to be first-generation techniques, which were then copied onto smaller scrolls in order to be taught with more ease.  
  
Asuma stared at the scroll for a moment, then pulled his cigarette out of his mouth with on hand and extinguished it in a little ash-tray next to the Shogi board. "May I?" he asked, then picking up the scroll when Hinata nodded.  
  
"So..." Asked Shikamaru after a short while, having decided that Asuma would be looking at the scroll for some time. "Do you play?" He asked, gesturing towards the board. As Hinata shook her head to say no, he sighed and glanced around the room. Everyone, bar himself, was playing. Well, there was one thing he could do to relieve his boredom somewhat. "Want to learn?" He asked finally.  
  
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Hinata really thought she was doing well. Granted, she was losing to Shikamaru, but then she had hardly played before and he was an expert. He had said, though, that she was doing exceptionally well for a beginner and had even offered to continue teacher her if she still wanted to learn.  
  
Mostly Shikamaru had offered because, to be honest, he was finding all his usual opponents to be to easy and boring. The stimulation in teaching someone the game was better, and whilst it did require a little work on his part he thought it was a fair trade off in order to not have to listen to the whining of some of the older players when they lost.  
  
Occasionally Asuma would look up from the scroll and point out a possible move for her to make, then he went back to reading and making little notes on a smaller scroll. Hinata had just managed to use one of her rook pieces to capture Shikamaru's silver general piece when Asuma proudly announced that he knew what the scroll was for.  
  
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Authors notes - I'm evil I am Really evil =P making you wait for the next chapter before you find out what is on the scroll ^_^ hehehe...  
  
*dances the 'I am so evil' dance*  
  
Aaaanyway. Next chapter, I'll finally reveal what the scroll is for! I promise!  
  
And to all those who reviewed this ficcie ^-^ ... THANKYOU!  
  
- Lackey H, dreaming of Sakura in the spring. 


	4. Jutsu

To Be Strong.  
  
A Naruto fanfiction  
  
Chapter 4 - Jutsu.  
  
Hinata's hands moved slowly, deliberately, making sure each of the documented seals was performed perfectly. As a Hyuuga she had never really needed to learn any Jutsu beyond the one's her family used. In truth, all she really knew were the three basics - Henge, Kawarimi and Bunshin. That and how to activate and control her unique eyes - the infamous Byakugan.  
  
Most of her life had instead been spent learning the unique taijutsu style her family used. Although it must be said that she had begun to slack off somewhat after her father had effectively disowned her.  
  
Now she was trying to perform a technique from the scroll she had, learning direct from a scroll was one of the hardest ways in which to learn a jutsu as there was no-one who could give advice if one failed to perform the technique.  
  
"Dog, Boar, Dog, Horse, Snake," She named each seal as she performed it, memorising the order that they were performed in. She wasn't, however, channelling any chakra yet, intending instead to make sure she got the motions right before she started adding any actual power. After all, some techniques could turn into disasters if the seals were performed incorrectly.  
  
As she worked on memorising the first technique on the scroll, she thought back to the discussion she had with Asuma the day before.  
  
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"How interesting," Asuma had murmured, "This scroll contains a selection of techniques - the descriptions are a little obscure but I think they're all earth-type jutsu."  
  
"Earth-type?" Hinata had asked, with her rather limited knowledge of Jutsus she didn't quite understand the meaning. Asuma looked at her and sighed.  
  
"Didn't anyone tell you?" At Hinata's little shake of her head, Asuma sighed once more. "Shikamaru, explain it."  
  
Shikamaru blinked, then fumed slightly. Trust Asuma to dump the difficult explanations onto him, just like he dumped most of the work, most of the teaching, and most of everything else too. "Gaaah... I don't need this hassle..." He muttered before looking at Hinata and beginning his explanation.  
  
"Jutsus come in three main catagories, elemental, non-elemental and unique. An example of a non-elemental jutsu would be the Bunshin No Jutsu, the seals are all fairly standard, and there are no specific chakra types needed to perform it." He nodded, before snatching a sheet of paper from Asuma and began to scribble on it with a charcoal stick.  
  
"A unique Jutsu would be something like my Kagamane no Jutsu or Choji's Multi-size no jutsu. It's something that is pretty much reliant on the individual, and most likely wouldn't work if anyone else tried it." He paused for a moment and thought. "Unless, of course, they fill the requirements - only someone with enough body mass could perform Choji's Multi-size no jutsu for example, if I tried it I'd never get it to work."  
  
Hinata nodded, it made sense in a strange sort of way. Or at least, it would explain why she'd never seen anyone else use some of the more devastating techniques that some families practised. Of course, then there was all the mess with advanced bloodlines and the like, but she already knew about that. She had first hand experience one might say.  
  
"Right," Continued Shikamaru, idly nudging one of his shogi pieces forwards. "Then there are elemental jutsu, which come in several types. The biggest types are Earth, Fire, Water, Wind and Lightning. There are many other less widespread types though - such as Space-time jutsu. Each type of element requires different chakra, it's not hard - really you just need to find an emotion that fits the element and think of it when you create your chakra."  
  
At this Asuma piped up, interrupting the explanation and earning a nasty glare from the young genius. "That's not quite right. You know how Chakra is made from spiritual energy, and physical energy? Well, you can't change physical energy, but with concentration you can alter the spiritual energy which will in turn alter what type of chakra you create. Earth-type spiritual energy is said to feel heavy, like a rock, whilst Fire-type supposedly feels hot like a flame. Different ninja use different ways to change their spiritual energy to what they want." Shikamaru grumbled to himself for a moment before continuing, "Of course, it brings a whole new level of complexity to performing a jutsu. After all, you have to make the right chakra to match the jutsu - Fire-type chakra would be useless if you wanted to do an earth type technique."  
  
The jounin, Asuma, nodded in agreement with his student. "And that's not even scratching the surface - combining different chakra types is also possible, which allow for an even wider range of jutsu. And, lastly, even though it is an element, almost all space-time jutsu are affiliated with another element - but they're simple in that the only thing a space-time jutsu needs is a little bit of blood - and whatever chakra it's affiliated with."  
  
Hinata nodded dumbly, this was an awful lot of information to take in at once and, to be honest, she was sure that she'd forgotten some of it already. On the other hand, she now had, at the very least, some idea of how to perform a jutsu more complicated than the three basics.  
  
"Now that we've got that sorted out," Asuma plucked a cigarette from his jacket and placed it in his mouth. "I've translated the first technique for you, the rest though... Well, I'll pass the information to Kurenai. She'll probably have to train you a bit herself on most of these, but the first one you could probably do on your own."  
  
He smirked and held out his hand, a tiny flame appearing at the top of one finger. "Fire-type jutsu," he murmured. "About the only fire-type thing I can do this. It's useful though." He added, lighting his cigarette with his finger.  
  
Shikamaru just snorted and glared at his teacher.  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
"Earth type is heavy..." She whispered as she meditated. Hinata was good at meditation, it was something she could do without any effort at all. Unlike, say, Kiba, who had difficulty just sitting still for more than a few minutes at a time.  
  
"Earth type is heavy... Like rocks, and mud, and stones." She whispered, as she felt within herself seeking to create 'heavy' earth-type chakra. It was hard, much harder than it was for her to summon the power of the byakugan. Then again, she put this down to the simple fact that she'd never had to do it before. Everyone else probably got taught the basics before they became Genin. She, on the other hand, had merely learnt the byakugan and three core techniques from her father - so she'd never learnt about other chakra types before.  
  
"Earth type is heavy... Like... like..." Ah. There it was. Her chakra, all bubbly and silky and smooth and rough and... well, it was everything and nothing really. It was so hard to put descriptions to energy, especially that which came from a combination of herself and her experiences.  
  
Hold on... No, this wasn't her normal chakra. Not quite anyway. It seemed darker, deeper, like that mineshaft she'd seen once when she'd travelled with her father to a nearby city. Yes, it seemed deep and dark and smelling of wet clay, a deep rich smell of earth and the darkness and...  
  
Her eyes opened wide as she forced this chakra through her body. Her hands reached up and flicked through the seals she had spent such a long time memorising earlier.  
  
"Dog, Boar, Dog, Horse, Snake," each one was performed in a second, then her hands were already moving onto the next. She felt her chakra move through the seals, it seemed slightly more sluggish than usual, but then that was probably to be expected. It was heavier after all. Well, in a pseudo-metaphysical sense it was anyway, she wasn't altogether sure that chakra - if it had any weight - would be affected by gravity anyway. Probably not, it was probably just her imagination.  
  
"Earth-type..." She murmured, Then smacked her hands upon the ground as she called the techniques name, the energy in her voice being the final trigger to set it off.  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
"Hinata!? Hi~na~ta!?" The masculine voice echoed around the woods, bouncing from tree to tree as it carried the name around the area. Occasionally, the yells would be punctuated by the barks and whines of a dog.  
  
"Hinata!? Where are you!?" Kiba yelled out again, Hinata hadn't shown up at all for the normal meeting they had with Kurenai-sensei and that had worried everyone. Hinata always showed up on time, if not a few minutes early. The fact that she was late was incredibly unusual, not turning up at all, therefore, was unthinkable.  
  
"Hinata!?" He yelled again, as he stumbled into a clearing - and promptly fell over.  
  
The place had been practically obliterated! The ground was ripped up, and several trees had been smashed or knocked over. The chaos was almost... well... it was really, really bad.  
  
And in the centre of it all, eyes closed and resting peacefully against a chunk of rock, was Hinata, a tiny smile upon her face.  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
Authors notes;  
  
How evil can I get? First I string you along, leave you wondering what she's going to learn... now I show you the results but not what it is she's learnt!  
  
^___^ Damn, but I'm a sadistic guy, huh?  
  
Yeah x.x this one hit my bare minimum for a 'To be strong' chapter, I just couldn't think of much else to say once I'd written that ending ^.^;;  
  
AH! I'm probably going to have to change the description of this fic x.x as it's gleefully meandered away from my original plan ^^;; no worries though, I still enjoy writing it.  
  
- Lackey H, imagining Hinata in autumn leaf-fall. 


	5. Mission

To Be Strong.  
  
A Naruto fanfiction  
  
Chapter 5 - Mission.  
  
"Woah..." Kiba looked around the clearing in a mix of awe and horror, could Hinata have really been the one to do this? As he picked himself up off the floor the animal-like boy peered around at what he had tripped over.  
  
A molehill. He, a great and almighty (at least in his own mind) ninja had tripped over a mere molehill. A molehill! The idea was unthinkable!  
  
Well, no. Actually anyone who knew Kiba would know that he had a tendency to make a fool of himself in such stupid ways as this. Kiba himself, on the other hand, tended to gloss over such knowledge with the aid of his balloon- like ego.  
  
It was surprising just how much like Naruto that Kiba could actually be sometimes...  
  
Cursing the molehill (which had obviously gone out of it's way to place itself under his foot) the boy and his dog scampered over upturned rocks, unearthed tree-roots and the ripped up ground towards where Hinata lay.  
  
"Uhhh... H-hey?" The boy took hold of Hinata's shoulder and gently shook the pale-eyed girl. "Are... Are you okay?" He asked, hoping that she wasn't dead. Out of all team eight, Kiba was the one who had slept through the most lessons on basic medical aid - heck, he didn't even know how to check if Hinata was breathing! Well, he could look, but that coat Hinata always wore did make it hard to tell if she was moving or not...  
  
"K-Kiba?" Hinata's voice was weak and laced with exhaustion. Kiba sighed and motioned that he was going to lift her up, luckily Hinata guessed what he was trying to say and nodded in acceptance.  
  
"So..." Began the dog-loving boy, as he lifted Hinata onto his back. "What the hell happened here!? It looks like a hurricane hit this place!"  
  
Hinata smiled slightly, "Just..." She began, then paused. Did she really want to say this? Did she really want to accept that she had the strength to do... to do all this damage? She bit her lip for a moment and thought. Yes, she could rip up an area pretty well with her new technique, but that was only a side-effect of the techniques real purpose. Finally, though, she reached a decision.  
  
"J-just... Just call me hurricane Hinata..." It was a weak pun, very weak, and delivered in the weakest voice Kiba had ever heard.  
  
It was, however, still enough to shock him into ceasing to pay attention to the ground he was walking on.  
  
Well, at least until he tripped over the molehill again. Only, this time he had Hinata landing on his back. Kiba's ego, and his body, weren't exactly having the best of days today...  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
"As the only team to have everyone fail to become a chuunin, we'll be doing rank D and C missions a little while longer." Yuuhi was, to be blunt, unhappy about that little point. Due to the simple fact that none of the 'judges' of the final stage of the chuunin exam had actually seen any of her students fight, they had been recorded as three failures. "Fortunately," she continued, "Due to the events surrounding the final exam, the council have decided to hold a second final exam for all those who took part but were not made on-the-spot chuunin."  
  
'Like, for instance, all of team seven.' Thought the Jounin instructor of team eight, 'As well as Shikamaru from team ten. Damn it all, if only that Sand-nin hadn't forfeited his match with Shino - if Shino had fought we'd at least have had a good chance of having at least one team-member pass the exam.'  
  
Hesitantly, Hinata raised her hand. Yuuhi nodded once in permission to speak, then sat back on her chair and listened to the Hyuuga girl's question. "Ku-Kurenai-sensei... Will, will we have a-another pre-preliminary?"  
  
Shino nodded his head in agreement with his team-mate's question. Granted, he could probably beat any preliminary opponent without much trouble but, frankly, it was really just one big hassle he could quite happily live without.  
  
"HELL YEAH!" Kiba yelled before Yuuhi could answer, Akamaru barking along with him, "We get another chance! And this time there'll be no Naruto to... to..." Kaba twitched slightly as he remembered what happened during the preliminaries - it was, quite possibly, the most embarrassing moment of his life.  
  
"Quite." Murmured Shino who, although he hadn't shown it, had thought what Naruto did to Kiba had been rather amusing.  
  
Yuuhi waved Kiba down before he exploded at Shino - an action the boy was rather prone to doing. "There will be no preliminaries but, for the most part you have shown that you have the potential to become good Chuunin." She sighed. 'if they ever pass of course' she mentally added.  
  
"Bearing this in mind," the jounin began, "We'll be performing a C rank mission today, nothing difficult, merely escorting a small caravan through bandit territory, but it is at least a bit tougher than the D rank missions you would usually get."  
  
"WOOOHA!" Kiba leapt out of his seat and yelled, "Bandits! Finally we get to kick some ass!"  
  
Shino grunted in approval, at least escort duty could prove slightly more interesting than, say, babysitting or finding lost pets - both traditional Genin missions.  
  
Hinata, meanwhile, said nothing. Instead she thought about the training she'd done, and the new jutsu she had - the first non-basic 'common' jutsu a Hyuuga clan member had learnt in almost three generations.  
  
Maybe... Maybe she'd be able to show her new jutsu off. Not that she wanted to, but it would be nice to see what Kurenai-sensei thought of it...  
  
Perhaps then she'd agree to help Hinata learn the other jutsus on her scroll...  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
"Waaaaooow! Real ninja!" The girl's voice was full of awe, and her eyes sparkled with wonder. She was just one of the many passengers aboard the caravan that was to be escorted. Like the other passengers, she was heading towards the stone country in order for her family to start a new life there. There were a variety of other passengers, ranging from workmen, to doctors, teachers, their families and even a rather young shrine maiden.  
  
"Hmph." The shrine maiden obviously didn't share the young girl's enthusiasm, "Murderous barbarians, all of them." This particular woman was dressed in the traditional garments of a fire country shrine maiden - a light pink, long sleeved chihaya top which went with rather dark red hibakama trousers. "You would be wise to stay away from them Shizuo, lest they corrupt you with their murderous ways."  
  
"Awwww... But Umekiiiii~" The young girls voice broke into the high pitched whine that only children seemed to be able to produce. She sniffed and pointed at Akamaru, who was perched atop Kiba's head, looking down with faint curiosity. "Can't I at least pet the cute lil' doggy?"  
  
The shrine maiden, Shizuo, looked at Kiba with a piercing glare. "As long as it doesn't bite, and as long as they let you." She stated, in a tone that mean 'And they will, if they know what's good for them.'  
  
Kiba sweated slightly, then reached up and lifted Akamaru off of his head. Bending down slightly he deposited the small dog into the girls outstretched arms, all the while aware of the shrine maiden's piercing glare aimed at him. "Now, uh," He began, smiling nervously, "You be careful, okay? Don't drop him now."  
  
Yuuhi sighed as she watched her student panic under the sharp-eyed maiden's glare. This was not something she needed to deal with. "Right," She murmured. "Shino, you'll be on the left rear section of the caravan, Kiba you're on the right rear section." They two boys nodded and vanished - or at least they appeared to when, in fact, they'd just darted off at speeds most normal people couldn't even hope to manage.  
  
"Ku-Kurenai-sensei?" Whispered Hinata. Yuuhi, however, had guessed what she was going to ask and interuppted before the Hyuuga child could complete her question.  
  
"Hinata, you'll be staying close to..." Yuuhi glanced around for a moment, "... The passengers in the middle section of the caravan - the boys appear too threatening and could cause... friction. Especially with that shrine maiden around."  
  
"D-Do you want me to, uhm, be in disguise?" Hinata asked. Yuuhi stared at her for a moment then nodded in agreement.  
  
"I'll ask the caravan leader for something you can wear as a disguise." She paused, then frowned. "There are too many women here," muttered the jounin, "If bandits attack, they will be more likely to try kidnapping some." Yuuhi stared at Hinata, her gaze boring into the girl. "If that happens you must be captured also, do anything you can to be taken with any others - once they put you wherever they hold their prisoners... Well, do your best to prevent them from..." She trailed off as Hinata paled slightly and nodded in acknowledgement at the unspoken threat of what could happen.  
  
"Y-yes..." She began, before being cut off by Yuuhi.  
  
"Be strong." Murmured Yuuhi, before she turned and stalked off, intent on waving down the caravan leader and getting hold of a disguise for Hinata.  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
Authors notes:  
  
Don't kill me, please?  
  
This chapter has been held up for soooo long x.x I decided o cut it a little early to prevent me from putting it of any longer ^^;;  
  
Anyway, major writers block happened, alongside other events.  
  
Don't expect me to post any chapters for anything for a while, since my big college exhibition of my artwork is going up over the next two weeks x.x wheeee. I will, however, try to do all I can to get some things up ^^;; just don't worry if I can't.  
  
And uhh... I know I said you'd see Hinata's new technique but... uhm... well... you'll see it next time! Promise!  
  
Lackey H, Fleeing angry fans.  
  
-----------============-------------============---------  
  
PS: This is being added in response to several nasty, rather insulting, e- mails I've received from a variety of people.  
  
If you want to criticise me, go ahead, as long as it's constructive I don't mind. In fact, I like having people give advice on those little things that help me improve my work. (Especially one kind person who pointed out a little grammar error I kept making. ^^;; One I hope to avoid making in the future now that I know about it.)  
  
If you want to try flaming me then go get a coin and buy yourself a clue. I'm really getting sick of people who send insulting flames about things which they don't know  
  
Firstly, the plot of my writing - I'm the author, I know what happens next, these flamers don't so they have no right to flame me on what hasn't happened yet.  
  
You can flame me on what *has* happened if you so wish, but not on what you think I will write.  
  
Secondly, the facts of the Naruto world. I, like all people, have my own take on some things. (such as the specifics of the Henge - transformation - no jutsu and Kuchiyose - summoning - no jutsu) I don't mind people having their own views on how a technique works. At present neither technique has been thoroughly explained in Canon so we're free to come up with our own theories.  
  
What I don't like is when people ream me because they don't like my theory.  
  
Asking if I'm sure of what I wrote is fair enough, pointing out instances of things that could disprove my theory is fine but when people insult, swear and deride me. Well. They can get stuffed.  
  
Finally, if you have a complaint with something that is a Canon fact - please don't moan at me unless you can prove you're right. I'm getting kinda sick of having to repeatedly point out instances in the Manga which prove my side and ruin the other side of the argument.  
  
I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just getting tired of being insulted for no good reason by people who are too lazy to wait for an explanation, too dumb to check the facts or too close-minded to accept any other theory.  
  
I'm sorry this rant had to go here and I hope another will never be needed.  
  
(note: I will repeat this rant at the end of chapter 6 of 'Betrothal' for people who read that fic but not this one, so don't worry if you read both and see it there also.)  
  
- lackey H, sorry he had to rant like this. 


End file.
